The Veela Fraud
by mmrose
Summary: The Malfoys announce that Draco is an active veela and his mate is Severus Snape. Draco lies, Harry lusts, Snape grumbles, and Hermione is determined to figure out the truth. DMHP, SSHG


The Veela Fraud

Summary: The Malfoys announce that Draco is an active veela and his mate is Severus Snape. Draco lies, Harry lusts, Snape grumbles, and Hermione is determined to figure out the truth. DM/HP, SS/HG

Disclaimer: This story is based on J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series. She gets all the fame, glory, and fortune for creating the world. I'm just having some fun with it.

Note: This will eventually be Slash of the Harry/Draco variety. You probably know already whether you like that sort of thing. There will eventually be some Snape/Hermione, too. Consider yourself forewarned.

* * *

Part 1 – An Unlikely Veela

Harry Potter had meant to go to the second floor of the Ministry of Magic to see Arthur Weasley at the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts department. Then a very foul smelling troll had gotten onto the elevator, and staying on the elevator no longer seemed like a good idea. Harry got off at the fourth floor and looked for the stairs.

The stairs were not by the elevators. The stairs were not down the first hallway Harry walked down. The stairs were not down the second. Harry was looking for someone to ask for directions when he was literally dragged into the Magical Creatures Registration Office.

Finding the stairs was no longer important once Harry saw who was in the room: Professor Snape, Draco Malfoy, and Remus Lupin. Malfoy looked uncomfortable, Lupin looked nervous, and Snape looked murderous. Of course it had been the murderous one who had grabbed Harry by the arm, pulled him into the office, and practically threw him into a chair in front of a large Ministry desk, covered with stacks of large, Ministry parchments, with a large Ministry official seated behind it. The man looked almost as big as Hagrid, and as cheerful as one of Hagrid's pets.

"Mr. Potter is late," Professor Snape said, with an extra glare directed at Harry just daring him to contradict him. Since they were in the Magical Creatures department, it was all probably about Lupin's well-known and properly registered lycanthropy. As much as Harry would love to go back out and go to the right floor to see Mr. Weasley, he would do almost anything to help Lupin, even put up with Snape.

The Ministry official looked at Harry. He frowned, then raised his eyebrows and stopped frowning, then grinned. Harry knew what that meant. The Boy Who Lived had just been recognized.

"Potter, as in Harry Potter? It's an honor to meet you." The man reached over the desk and shook Harry's hand. "No one said you were coming today. If I had known, well, we certainly would have waited. Tea? Coffee?"

Harry had no idea what was going on, but he noticed that Lupin looked a bit less downtrodden than before, so he must be doing the right thing. "Sorry, I had a bit of a hard time finding this place," Harry said. "Tea would be great."

While the Ministry official made a big production out of bringing out a tea set and heating water for The Boy Who Lived, Harry leaned over to Lupin and said, "What did I miss so far?"

Lupin looked over to Snape and Malfoy before responding in a quiet undertone that he knew everyone in the room could hear: "Mr. Dunne wants more proof of Draco Malfoy's condition. The results of a few veela tests and the words of a werewolf and a known Dark wizard aren't good enough. We're glad you could make it, Harry."

Veela tests? Oh Merlin, Draco Malfoy was being registered as a Veela. Harry saved his questions for later, like where was Draco's mother and why was Lupin there. For the present, he'd play his role and say whatever it is he needed to say.

Mr. Dunne was attempting to conjure lemon to add to the tea of his young honored guest. Snape was still standing by the door, waiting for the Ministry official to get back to their business. Lupin tried to give Mr. Dunne a few pointers about the lemon. Malfoy was still ... Malfoy. No different at all. No wings, no weird veela attraction. Harry thought of Fleur Delecour, the part-veela from Beauxbatons. He hadn't been strongly affected by her either. She had been very, very beautiful, and Malfoy was still ... Malfoy.

Harry stopped his examination of Draco Malfoy to accept the cup of tea now being reverently offered to him by Mr. Dunne. He took a sip that was too hot to taste, and pronounced that it was very good tea, with very good lemon, and that he was very grateful for it. Then he looked back at Malfoy to see whether he had missed something particularly veela-ish about him.

"Mr. Potter here has also seen proof of Mr. Malfoy's condition," Professor Snape said. "If you have any doubt, just look at the boy now. He's very susceptible to Mr. Malfoy's allure. I don't think he's stopped staring the entire time he's been here."

Professor Snape always was a bastard. Harry was trying to help, and Snape was going out of his way to make him look like an idiot. For once, Malfoy didn't even smirk at Harry's embarrassment. He didn't look at Harry at all. Harry could not tell everyone that he wasn't feeling Malfoy's allure without showing that his planned appearance there was all a lie. He looked down at his teacup and muttered something else about how good the tea was until the conversation continued.

"It is still a very unusual situation," Mr. Dunne said. "The veela side of part-veelas doesn't normally mature before age seventeen or eighteen. For Mr. Malfoy to already be an active veela, and even to have been mated--"

Harry choked on his tea and started coughing. That was definitely more information than he ever wanted to know about Draco Malfoy. At least the other boy had the decency to lightly pinken with embarrassment.

"He has identified who his mate is, we said," Professor Snape snapped. "No mating, no bonding, nothing of that sort. That is sufficient for him to focus his powers to avoid being a large distraction to most people, except the particularly susceptible ones like Mr. Potter." Snape was standing behind Harry, but Harry was sure that Snape was glaring at both Harry and Mr. Dunne now. Harry would love to ask who this identified 'mate' was, but he was probably supposed to know that already for their game with the Ministry.

Mr. Dunne looked back at the paperwork in front of him and said, "This is all still very, very unusual."

"He passed all the tests," Lupin said. "As out of the ordinary as it is, Draco Malfoy really is a active veela at age sixteen, and he needs to have all the special legal protections along with it."

In contrast to Professor Snape's harshness, Lupin was the gentle, understanding supporter. It was the old Good-cop-Bad-cop act. Lupin and Snape never got along, and Lupin never particularly liked Draco Malfoy, so there must be some very interesting story behind why Lupin was there defending Draco Malfoy's legal rights as an active veela.

"Yes, of course, if he really is an active veela," Mr. Dunne said. "He doesn't really look like one."

Harry thought they were already past that stage. Of course Draco Malfoy was an active veela. Lupin said that Malfoy had passed some tests. Do they want to see whether he'll get wings when he got angry? Did they need Harry to make a show of falling completely under Malfoy's allure? Just in case they needed more evidence from him, Harry shifted so he could better and more obviously look at the guy. Staring is impolite, but someone under the spell of a veela was supposed to stare.

Not that there was much to look at. Still Draco Malfoy, with his distinctive white-blonde hair now worn very short. Still too pale skin, like he never went outside in the daylight. Still very sharp features, a pointy nose, a pointy chin, all angles and sharp edges. He had not gotten past the adolescent awkwardness of having one's body grow too quickly to keep track of. Perhaps he would eventually grow into his tall frame and no longer look like an overgrown, underfed, though well-dressed scarecrow.

Draco Malfoy did not acknowledge Harry's examination of him. He was sitting very straight in his chair and his jaw was clenched as a conscious decision to stay quiet. Professor Snape had probably told him not to say anything.

"Why won't you register Malfoy?" Harry asked. He kept his eyes on Draco Malfoy a moment longer so he could be assured that everyone saw how enraptured he was pretending to be, then he turned back to Mr. Dunne. "I don't see the problem. You have tests, right? Can't you see it? Feel it? He's ... "

He had better do more background readings on veelas and their allure just in case anyone ever asked for more detail about it. Harry would never live it down if he told everyone there that Draco Malfoy was beautiful, when he really was not. He was a nasty prat, and he wasn't that good-looking if you weren't thinking about all the money he was going to inherit some day.

"Please, just make Potter sign something so we can get rid of him. It's unnerving, really, the way he looks at Mr. Malfoy." Professor Snape may still sound like he was annoyed, but he was sounding more confident and more pleased. That was usually a bad sign for Harry, but today that meant that he could get out of there faster and stop having to pretend to be overcome with desire for his worst enemy.

Harry put down his teacup and said, "Yeah, it's weird for me, too. I mean, this is Draco Malfoy, after all. It's not like I want to..."

What should he want to do if he was really under the allure? Kiss him? Shag him? Whisper sweet nothings in his ear and write love sonnets? Declare his undying love?

Mr. Dunne laughed at Harry's discomfort and said, "Fine, fine, I know what you mean, Mr. Potter. No need to be embarrassed. We're doing with a magical creature here. Your wife won't blame you if you have to stare a bit whenever Mr. Malfoy is around."

The tension in the room was gone now. Lupin and even Snape laughed. Malfoy nearly let himself smile. Harry felt himself blushing, more at the reference to his future wife than anything else. Would he be expected to pretend to be under Malfoy's allure for the rest of his life? In any case, Mr. Dunne now produced some paperwork and let Harry be the third signer to the application for Draco Malfoy's registration. Hands were shaken, Mr. Dunne and Professor Snape made a few remarks about how strongly Harry was attracted to Malfoy, and they were all dismissed.

On their way out, Mr. Dunne had to make a final joke at the expense of the Hero of the Wizarding World: "Mr. Malfoy, I hope you stay away from Mr. Potter's girlfriends at school."

There were actually people in the hallways now, to add to Harry's embarrassment. The entire department would probably hear this story. It was only a matter of time before the _Daily Prophet_ heard. Everyone at school would think that Harry had some sort of perverted crush on Malfoy. Fabulous.

Professor Snape and Draco Malfoy walked off together, not thanking Harry at all for his convincing performance as someone in lust with Malfoy. No apologies for making him lie for what he felt towards Malfoy. No acknowledgement of a job well done. At least Malfoy had yet to make a joke about him. Actually Malfoy was silent the entire time.

Harry walked with Lupin towards the elevators. "You saved us a lot of time there, Harry. I was starting to think that we wouldn't get the registration approved before you arrived. Where are you headed now?" The hallways were too crowded for Lupin to give any further acknowledgement that it was a damn lucky break that Harry happened to be walking by and that Snape had found him.

"Down to see Mr. Weasley. Will I see you later?" In other words, would Lupin be at the Order's headquarters later tonight.

"Too close to a full moon, I'm afraid. But you did well back there. You were a big help. Don't forget that your name is on that registration certificate, if Malfoy or Professor Snape give you a hard time."

"You know they will. Nothing I can't handle."

Harry took the elevator to the second floor, and wondered again who Malfoy's 'mate' was. Hopefully someone really, really awful.

* * *

All great tragedies begin with a single mistake. For Severus Snape, that mistake was to accept a dinner invitation at Malfoy Manor 

With Lucius Malfoy still imprisoned in Azkaban, Severus Snape had thought it would be safe to visit the remaining Malfoys. Narcissa Malfoy was not a very active hostess, but when she chose to entertain, she always did it well, with plenty of good food, good wines, and good company. No Lucius meant that Snape wouldn't have to test his food for poisons or proclaim his fidelity to the Dark Lord over dessert. It would be a peaceful, pleasant evening.

Then he was nearly crushed by an enormous stone gargoyle the moment he knocked on the front door. He had only enough time to realize his life was in danger before he was pushed to the side. In his shock, he made his big mistake. He told Draco Malfoy, "You just saved my life."

The proper course of action would have been to berate the Malfoys for letting Malfoy Manor crumble to pieces around them. He should have yelled at young Draco for handling him so roughly. He should have told Narcissa that she should never have invited him to dinner. He should have realized that it was all a set-up, and not acknowledged that he had been helped in any way. Instead, he got himself stuck with another life debt.

Severus Snape hated life debts. First James Potter saved him from his bloodthirsty friends and made him the honorary guardian angel of the obnoxious Boy-Who-Lived. Then Albus Dumbledore took away a nasty hex after a vicious Death Eater meeting and got Severus Snape to become a spy. Malfoy Manor nearly killed him, and now he was stuck with Draco Malfoy living in his rooms at Hogwarts. The next time anyone tried to save Severus Snape's life, he would say, "No thank you" and meet his fate with a smile.

If it was any consolation, Draco Malfoy was not very pleased with the arrangement, either. The boy pouted, complained, and sulked, but, in the end, he did everything his mother told him to do, just as he used to do everything his father told him to do. As the child of Dark wizards, he knew not to interfere with his parents' power struggles. Snape wished he could avoid interfering, too.

Lucius was in Azkaban, so Narcissa was in control of the family. She had rethought her family's alliance with the Dark Lord. Following Voldemort got Lucius imprisoned, and the Dark Lord had made no effort to attack Azkaban to free him. The Dark Lord was not loyal to the Malfoys, so why should the Malfoys remain loyal to him?

She visited her husband to see whether he had similar views on the matter, but he was still looking forward to the non-existent jailbreak so he could take his place by his lord. Lucius expected his wife and son to be there, too. Narcissa could look after herself, but Draco was still an impressionable young man. If Lucius found a way out of Azkaban, he could easily regain control over Draco and, therefore, over the future of the Malfoy family. That was unacceptable.

So Narcissa got Snape involved. She got him stuck with a life debt. She blackmailed him with proof of where his loyalties truly lay. Even worse, she made Snape feel sorry for her poor little boy, who would never be interested in the Dark Lord at all if it weren't for his father. Snape had had no choice when his own father had decided that he should join the Death Eaters, and now he could prevent Draco Malfoy from being in the same situation if Lucius returned. He had to agree to help the boy.

It was already the first of September and the beginning of Draco Malfoy's sixth year. The Hogwarts Express was arriving later that day, but Snape and Draco had arrived at the school earlier that morning. Members of the Malfoy family never travel by floo, Draco was too young to apparate, and Draco didn't like portkeys. Young Mr. Malfoy's preferred means of transportation were trains or magical carriages. Snape would never take the Hogwarts Express, so that meant that the two of them had spent many hours in silence in one of the Malfoys' carriages.

Now Draco was familiarizing himself with Snape's rooms. They were no longer Snape's, though. They were Snape and Draco's rooms, as horrible as the idea was. He hadn't had a roommate in years.

"Can we redecorate, sir?"

Malfoys never leave good enough alone, and Snape's rooms were definitely "good enough". Severus Snape had been living in those quarters for the last 15 years, and he had not changed a thing for years. He liked the heavy, dark wooden furniture that wouldn't budge if a troll or a giant tried. He liked the dark tapestries, all in black, dark green, and blood red, hanging on the walls and illustrating the effects of some of the more painful dark curses. Not all the Snape family heirlooms went so well with a dungeon dwelling. He liked the dim lighting and the candles and torches placed in positions to exaggerate the shadows of all the strange dark artifacts lying around his shelves. He loved his rooms.

Draco must have seen his professor's reaction. He quickly said, "Not that there's anything wrong with all this, sir, but it's not very ... bright. Not very good for the eyes."

One great advantage of a dimly lit room was that young Mr. Malfoy could not see Snape's look of amusement. If he was going to be living with Draco Malfoy for an indefinite period of time, at least he could still rely on his student to be terrified of him and to treat him with respect.

"I like it the way it is," Snape said. "I suppose you do have some of your own things that you'll want to have around for the next year."

"Few years, sir," Draco said.

So long as the Dark Lord was still a threat, Severus Snape would have to deal with living with a very spoiled young man. Harry Potter had better be getting good training, because Snape was going to see that this war ended as soon as possible. The Malfoy family had always had friendly ties with the Snape family, but there was a limit to friendship. Life debts would eventually be repaid. Then the brat would be gone.

Draco picked up a small box on the mantle of the fireplace. Snape almost warned him that the box bit. No, best let the boy learn now not to touch what he does not understand. Draco quickly dropped it and stepped away from the fireplace. One would think that the son of two dangerous Dark wizards would have more courage, but young Mr. Malfoy always was a whiny, little coward.

"If you let me keep this room the way I want it, you can decorate the bedroom how you want it," Snape said, not repressing his smirk. Draco was standing by the fire, so Snape could see the brief panic on his face. Yes, the bedroom, did he want to think about that part of Narcissa's plan?

Snape took pity on the boy, and said, "Stop looking like I'm some monster, Mr. Malfoy. As I already told your mother, I have absolutely no desire to sleep with little boys, or big boys for that matter. I get the bed. You get a cot. I'm sure you'll get used to it."

Draco Malfoy had probably never slept on a cot in his entire life, but he still looked a bit relieved by the mention of its existence. He carefully avoided stepping on the kneazle-fur rug and opened the door to the bedroom. Snape was sorry he could not see the young man's reaction to it. All dark, dingy stone, with even fewer candles in it than the main room. Not even a Malfoy could make that dreary little room into something absurdly decadent, like their Malfoy Manor. Bedrooms were for sleeping.

Draco came back into the main room and, after quickly looking around for anything evil lurking, sat down on a leather armchair on the opposite of the room from Snape. If he stayed silent, living with him would not be so terrible after all.

"Please do not invite guests into our rooms, Mr. Malfoy. I spend most of my time in my office, of course, and I assume you'll want to spend your time with your friends in the Slytherin common room, am I right?"

Draco did not immediately reply, but he did not look like he wanted to spend any more time in their rooms than possible. He would definitely be spending his time away. Snape had seen how Draco's housemates fawned over him because of his family influence, and he had seen Draco bully and intimidate his classmates for years. Take him away from all his friends and minions, and the boy was not so cocky anymore.

"Excuse me, sir, but, if you don't mind, could you call me Draco? If we're supposed to be, you know…" He did not attempt to finish the sentence, much to Snape's disappointment.

"Of course, Mr. -- I mean, Draco. I suppose you are prepared for tonight?"

"Yes, sir. I'll take more of the potions before the feast, and Mum made me get used to having the charm on." Draco winced at the mention of the potions, and Snape was pleased. He had made an effort to make them particularly foul tasting. He was not in a very good mood when he had been brewing them. Draco should be glad that Snape didn't put in half the nasty things he originally thought of.

"You will continue taking the potions every day. I do not anticipate any problems, but I'm certain a few older Slytherins will know how to test you for being what you say you are. You must be prepared at all times. As for the charm, don't get too dependent on it. Don't ever cast it yourself. You do not know the Dark magic detectors in this school like I do."

There would be a great deal of Dark magic necessary for the plan to work. The potions, the Dark charms, the lying and pretending to be something you are not – the Malfoys could not have found a more ideal accomplice than Severus Snape. They needed him, and he was not going to let them forget that.

"Yes sir."

"You do know, Draco, that failure will have very drastic effects for both of us."

"Yes sir."

"Good. Now go pretend to be a veela somewhere else so I can get some work done."

* * *

Bad things always seemed to happen to poor Harry. It had been a week since the news came out about Draco Malfoy, and the _Daily Prophet_ was still making jokes about Harry and Draco. Hermione knew that she should be a supportive friend and not laugh, but there were some very funny cartoons in that morning's _Prophet_ depicting a lustful Harry chasing Draco down the train corridors. 

"It was just an act," Harry insisted for the tenth time since they got on the Hogwart's Express that morning. "Remember Fleur? Part-veelas don't affect me much. Malfoy doesn't at all. I didn't want to let Remus down."

"Yeah, Harry, we all know you could do better than Malfoy. I hear Justin Finch-Fletchley is single." Ron dodged behind Hermione before Harry could get a hold of him.

Hermione tried to scold Ron for teasing Harry, but she couldn't really gather the right about of venom and self-righteousness to sound very convincing. She let Ron keep his arm around her shoulder and she went back to reading the newspaper.

She was glad that Ron had finally asked her out over the summer. Really, she thought the world of Ron. He was one of her best friends. Everyone always expected her to date Ron. Harry was going to save the world, and Ron and Hermione were going to get married and have dozens of red-haired Weasleys. It would be adorable, really. Hermione agreed.

But to have a handsome veela step forward and declare to the world that he would love you forever, because you were his perfect mate... It would be so romantic. Hermione didn't like Draco Malfoy, and she was very glad that he had already picked out a mate who was not her, but the idea was very .... nice. To be destined for a life of unending love... Hermione Granger may have the mind of a scholar, but she had the heart of a true romantic.

Ron poked her in the ribs and said, "Wanna play Exploding Snap?"

She hated that game, and he should know it by now. "I'm reading," she said, and by her brisk tone of voice, Ron Weasley should know she was not happy with him and should be doing all he could to beg for her forgiveness. Instead he got Harry to play with him.

A tall, dark, and handsome stranger will sweep her off her feet and...

Everyone in Gryffindor easily accepted the news about Ron and Hermione's new relationship. Not a single person was surprised or particularly excited about this new development in their lives. Neville Longbottom shrugged and said, "I thought you two were already dating."

Hermione expected that there would be some fuss about them. They were Harry Potter's best friends, after all. They helped Harry face Voldemort a couple times. She was the best student in their year at school. Everyone was more impressed with her when she went out with Victor Krum. Victor was not very handsome and he couldn't pronounce her name correctly, but he was tall, dark, and exotically foreign. He used to tell her that she was pretty. Ron never did sweet things like that.

Later she sat down in the Great Hall between Ron and Harry and tried not to let her annoyance be too apparent. This was her first serious romance, and it was going to be a good one, dammit. Being as everyone expected her to marry Ron, it might end up being her one chance at it.

Then she felt it. A pull. Like there was a string on her heart that was connected to someone else in the room, someone who was pulling her towards them, and with every breath she took, the string around her heart was being pulled tighter and tighter.

How exciting! Someone had cast a siren spell on her!

She looked around and saw the confused looks of her other housemates. Someone had cast the spell on the entire school. Hermione didn't see anyone with a wand out who could be casting, but siren spells were very Dark, so it could hardly be a student. Was this an attack? Was there another Death Eater spy in their school? She turned to Harry to get his opinion, but he was trying to repair his glasses after he had stepped on them on the way out of the carriages. Of course Harry wouldn't feel it. He had a knack for resisting Dark magic.

Then she realized who it was who held the string to her heart: Draco Malfoy was slowly walking down to his table. It wasn't a siren spell after all; it was the veela allure she had heard so much about.

She tugged on Ron's sleeve to get his attention. "You feel it, too, don't you? Malfoy's allure?"

Ron's eyes widened, then he energetically shook his head no. "No, don't feel a thing. Nothing."

Sweet, close-minded Ron. He was endearingly stubborn sometimes. Hermione turned to Harry and said, "You really don't feel anything, do you?"

"What? Maybe it's a bit drafty." Harry now put on his glasses and looked around. "What's wrong with everyone? Why is everyone looking at Malfoy? Is he doing something veela-ish?"

"The allure," Hermione said. "It feels like a strong siren spell."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were one of the few people in the school who had official, legal Dark Arts training. They had had lessons over the summer since they were always the prime targets of Voldemort. Mainly Ron and Hermione were there to support Harry, but everyone said it was for the three of them.

"I never get affected by those, either. I guess I'll just have to wait to fall in love the boring, non-magical way." Harry pointed to the staff table and said, "Look, even Snape is staring at Malfoy. I wonder how it feels for Malfoy."

But Hermione couldn't look at the staff table. The tie felt tighter. She had to try to see Malfoy. Hermione couldn't get a very good look at Malfoy, with everyone else straining to at least see him, but she felt that she had to try. She could see the blond spiky hair, and every now and then his flushed face. How wonderful, how adorable, he was embarrassed. He didn't seem very happy about the attention, especially not the people around him talking to him. But then, quite suddenly, the feeling was gone. The string was released. Hermione leaned back and felt like she could breath again.

Everyone settled back down, and the first years were remembered. Yes, the Sorting. Dumbledore stood up and said, "Before we begin tonight, I must make an announcement regarding Mr. Malfoy of Slytherin. If you were not aware before, you should be aware now that Draco Malfoy is part veela and has some different powers than the rest of us. We are fortunate that he is able to consciously control those powers, otherwise we may be having more demonstrations like we just had of what he is capable. Thank you, Mr. Malfoy, for your cooperation. He will be living in Professor Snape's quarters for as long as he is a student here. Actually, he will probably be living there for longer than that. Please be accommodating to Mr. Malfoy, and if you have any problems with him and with the allure or any other veela side-effect, speak with Professor Snape."

Hermione grabbed Harry's arm and said, "A real, active veela! I wish he wasn't such a prat, otherwise we could learn a lot from him. To think his secret mate all this time was Professor Snape!"

Ron tapped her on the shoulder and Hermione realized she had grabbed the wrong arm. Not Harry. Harry wasn't her boyfriend. Ooops. She let go and turned to Ron, but no longer felt very much like grabbing arms.

"What's that about his mate? Dumbledore didn't say anything about that," Ron said. Their other friends were also listening.

"If he knows who his mate is, he can concentrate his powers on her, or, in this case, him. I never knew Professor Snape was gay. I suppose they'll eventually bond and then be together for the rest of their lives."

Hermione's friends did not appreciate the romance of the situation like she did. They were still combining the words "Malfoy", "mate", and "Snape".

Harry said, "I didn't think of that. Snape and Malfoy. Weird. And kind of disturbing."

"Serves both them right," someone else said. "Stuck forever."

Hermione sighed. "There must be more to Malfoy and Professor Snape than we know. The veela's mate is their perfect balance. I can't see how those two would balance each other, but the veela's instinct is never wrong."

The rest of Gryffindor was now talking about Hermione's realization, and it was spreading to the other tables, too. Hermione looked over to Draco Malfoy, their real part-veela, who had discovered his mate in the most unlikely of places. In private he must be basking in the love of an intelligent, complex man. At present he looked very uncomfortable with all the whispers. He did look up at Snape and tried to smile, and Snape gave a very stiff nod in his direction. Draco must be able to see the hidden passion in that nod. Theirs would be a love that must be kept private. A student and a teacher, a boy and a mature man, a pampered rich brat and a long-suffering survivor. To think they were soul mates. Hermione tried to get at least Lavendar Brown and Parvati Patel to agree that it was a lovely idea, but they were too horrified about Professor Snape's hair to think about the romantic consequences.

"Can you imagine Malfoy kissing Snape? Those teeth? That hair?"

* * *

"Those teeth? That hair?" 

Draco Malfoy sat in his armchair by the fire in the Slytherin common room and wished that he really could sprout wings and sharp teeth and rip his housemates to pieces like a real active veela.

"Do not speak of Professor Snape in that way, otherwise I will be forced to sprout wings and sharp teeth and rip you to pieces," Draco said lightly.

"Why aren't you now?"

"Because there is no way that you could be a real threat to him." Draco raised his eyebrows in a silent challenge for the other boy to test him. Veelas were protective of their mates, but that didn't mean that they had to turn murderous when stupid third years were saying mean things.

His housemates were testing him all evening. Everyone who knew anything about veelas had to see whether he was acting correctly. Luckily the Malfoy library had every book on veelas ever written, including many not in the Hogwarts library, so Draco knew all the right answers. But he needed more demonstrations.

No one stepped forward with a new question, and for a moment Draco thought that he may actually be done for the evening. Then he saw the expressions in everyone's eyes. Professor Snape must be hiding somewhere and casting the siren spell on him. It still felt very odd, and all the stares were still weird, but it was necessary. Anyone who felt the veela allure would have to be an idiot to then doubt whether he was a veela.

When Draco's mother told Draco that he would be protected from his father and not be forced to become a Death Eater as planned on his sixteenth birthday, Draco said he would go along with any plan she thought of. He didn't realize that that plan would involve putting him completely at the mercy of the third most powerful Dark wizard in the world. He also didn't realize that the plan would completely destroy his sex life and make everyone think he was shagging his potions professor. Everyone may look at him now, but veelas mate for life. Or, for this fake veela, they 'mate' for as long as it took for Harry Potter to defeat Lord Voldemort.

The door to the common room opened and Professor Snape came in. He cast the siren spell from outside the room? Scary, scary man. He now made a big gesture of taking out his wand and casting a counter-charm to the veela allure, while ending the real charm without a word. The few students that weren't in the Common Room came in without an order being said. When Professor Snape chose to make an appearance at Slytherin, all the students knew it was serious.

He looked around to make certain everyone was present, then said, "I do not need to remind you to conduct yourselves as proper wizards this year. We all can see what the rest of this school is like, but we do know what is considered good behavior in Slytherin. That includes your behavior to Mr. Malfoy here. You understand why that is especially important to me, no doubt. You can be assured that if I hear you are not treating him the way he deserves, especially considering his connection with the House of Snape, I will not hesitate to take what I see as the proper action."

Draco took back every unkind thought he may have ever had about Professor Snape. As a recognized member of the House of Snape as well as the House of Malfoy, he was going to be able to do whatever the hell he wanted in this school this year. Sure, Snape would murder him as soon as the war was over, but that didn't mean that Draco couldn't enjoy his very, very privileged position.

Professor Snape put his hand on Draco's shoulder and Draco jumped up. Direct contact with a Dark wizard was usually a precursor to a very nasty hex that required bodily contact to transmit. But not this time. Professor Snape was trying to make a familiar gesture. Draco smiled weakly and wondered how one best pretends to be in love with Professor Snape.

"I am flooing your father, Draco. He will want to speak with you," Snape said. Then he turned around and left the room, not waiting to speak with anyone else or even to see whether Draco was following.

Draco saw how terrified his housemates now looked after that simple display of the Malfoy-Snape alliance. They were going to worship Draco now. It would be great. Then he felt another person testing him with the spell to identify whether he was really a veela. They were all suspicious bastards. He left the room and went to find Professor Snape's evil rooms.

Professor Snape was sitting in a chair in front of the fire now, with the head of an Azkaban warden in the flames of the fire. Draco tried to move another chair over to the fire, but it wouldn't budge. He tried another chair, and it, too, was immobile. Living with Professor Snape was going to be a real blast. There wasn't much of a choice. He had to sit on the floor next to Professor Snape's chair while the warden contacted the necessary guards to fetch their most notorious prisoner, Lucius Malfoy.

Draco's mother had already told his father the news about Draco being an active veela and Severus Snape being his mate. One of the most important aspects of the plan was to have Lucius Malfoy be completely convinced that they were telling the truth. He had had a few days to get used to the idea, so now would be his trial.

Draco automatically smiled when his father's head appeared. He knew that his father was a criminal and he had knew that Lucius deserved his lengthy prison sentence at Azkaban, but Draco always did worship his father. Lucius Malfoy's head looked like this could be any social call, though had they seen his clothes they'd see that he no longer looked like the dapper gentleman he used to be.

Professor Snape cast the necessary wards and spells to make their connection secure. The Ministry would hear an innocuous conversation about school and the weather, while the Malfoys and Snape would be able to be as nasty as they could want to be.

"Severus, I see you already have my boy in his place hovering at your feet. I never knew you were into his sort. All those years of disciplining naughty little boys finally got to you."

Azkaban did little to improve Lucius Malfoy's disposition. He had had a slightly higher position in society and in the ranks of the Death Eaters than Severus Snape, so he always found ways to treat Draco's professor like an inferior. Professor Snape revealed nothing on his face, but it was probably a good thing that Lucius Malfoy was far away and under many wards so he couldn't receive whatever nasty curse Professor Snape could think of.

"I have known you for too long to expect to receive your gratitute, Lucius. You should be glad I didn't flat out reject the boy and leave him to his own devices."

Unmated veelas cannot control the allure without taking many, many potions, so living a normal life in Wizarding Society is difficult, if not impossible. For Draco, it would mean that his mother would have to find someone else to look after Draco. That would probably mean being sent off to Beauxbatons.

Lucius still did not acknowledge his family's debt to Professor Snape, and instead looked down to his son. "Draco, my boy, have you tried wandless magic? There's some good that can come out of this situation. Perhaps our Lord will find some way to take advantage of your connection to Snape."

"Impossible," Professor Snape said. "The boy's loyalty is already fixed by instinct. He'd be dangerous, especially in front of our Lord. If he thought anyone is a threat to me –- and who is not a threat to each other at those meetings? -- he'd have everyone else dead."

"You think a sixteen-year-old veela could kill our Lord if he thought you were in danger? Yes, veela are powerful creatures, but you know our Lord is getting more powerful day by day. But you are right. Draco would only get in the way at this stage."

That was as good of an excuse as any to keep Draco away from the Death Eaters. Lucius Malfoy was still influential in the Dark Lord's forces, so he had to keep on thinking that Draco was an active veela and therefore was useless to his Voldemort-Taking-Over-The-World plans.

"Draco gets in the way here, too," Professor Snape said. "But it is quite a novelty to see a Malfoy be admired by more than the people he can buy. Draco's allure is quite powerful."

Power was enough to get Lucius's attention. "I hear even Harry Potter is affected. You could have done something about him before letting everyone know who your mate is, Draco. I imagine you can still distract him if you want to make yourself useful for once. But I don't see why your allure should be so strong. Potter will find a way to resist it."

"Why shouldn't my allure be strong?" Draco asked. "I'm a Malfoy veela."

"You don't look like a veela. Your hair is too short. Whoever heard of a veela without long hair? The rest of you is perfectly ordinary. My cousin Horace transformed overnight when his veela genes were activated. Not even the elves recognized him."

Lucius Malfoy looked at the offending short hair and perfectly recognizable facial features. Draco felt very uncomfortable under his father's scrutiny. He never could lie to his father.

Snape came to Draco's rescue before Lucius's glare could force Draco to reveal anything better left unsaid. Snape stood up and said, "As fascinating as Malfoy family history is, I do have work to do tonight. I have promised your wife and I will promise you, Lucius, that I will continue to look after your son while he is at Hogwarts."

The first examination was over. Lucius nodded. "Best wishes for the school year, Draco. Remember the Malfoy motto. Only the best."

In other words, beat Hermione Granger in the classroom and Harry Potter on the Quidditch pitch, or else hear another long lecture on how he was a disappointment to the Malfoy family name. Draco was glad when Snape ended the privacy spell and the Azkaban guard reappeared in the floo.

Draco had passed the first tests. He had the proper registration from the Ministry, he had been accepted as an active veela at Hogwarts, and he had not been discredited by his father. The hard part was all over.

* * *

(Author's Note: So what do you think? Worth continuing? Thanks for reading!) 


End file.
